Richey Street project set to begin in Pasadena

By Jaimy Jones, STAFF WRITER

Updated
1:17 pm CST, Monday, November 5, 2018

Pasadena EDC Board Member, Marilyn Wilkins; Councilman Cary Bass; Mayor Jeff Wagner; Harris County Commissioner Jack Morman; Councilmen Bruce Leamon and Felipe Villarreal commemorate work starting to Richey Street in the north part of the city at Sunset Park, Oct. 30, which will include added lanes and drainage improvements.

Pasadena EDC Board Member, Marilyn Wilkins; Councilman Cary Bass; Mayor Jeff Wagner; Harris County Commissioner Jack Morman; Councilmen Bruce Leamon and Felipe Villarreal commemorate work starting to Richey Street in the north part of the city at Sunset Park, Oct. 30, which will include added lanes and drainage improvements.

Work is set to begin on a project to improve Richey Street on Pasadena’s north side between Texas 225 and Southmore Avenue.

Funded through $6 million contributions by both the city and Harris County Precinct 2, the project aims to improve drainage to protect nearby homes from flooding and to ease traffic at a main entry point into Pasadena.

Work on the 1.5-mile segment is set to begin immediately and is expected to be finished by early 2020 if weather is favorable, Mark Gardemal, deputy director with Pasadena Public Works Department, said in an Oct. 30 written statement.

No road closures are expected on Richey during the work except for some side streets, he said.

Enhancements to the four-lane road will include a dedicated left-turn lane in the center of the road in places, wheelchair-accessible sidewalks on both sides and a detention pond west of Richey and south of Harris Avenue, Gardemal said previously.

New storm sewers, additional street lights, replacement of some traffic signals and repaving parts of the road are also in the plan.

Pasadena City Council members Felipe Villarreal and Bruce Leamon, who represent districts where the work is being done, were on hand during a recent ground-breaking ceremony for the project.

Villareal, who represents District A, where most of the improvements will occur, pointed to uneven and cracking concrete on Richey Street at the site of the ceremony, Sunset Park near West Ellaine Avenue.

Villarreal’s District A spans from just north of Texas 225, south to West Ellaine and Southmore avenues.

“In my district it’s even worse,” Villarreal said of flooding in the area. During Hurricane Harvey, residents around Jackson and Harris avenues saw “significant amounts of flooding,” he said.

Leamon, who represents District B, said he and Villarreal had been talking about investing resources into Richey Street improvements for some time.

“It’s going to make a big difference in Pasadena,” Leamon said.

“Richey is going to get done. It’s a great day for Pasadena,” Mayor Jeff Wagner said at the ceremony, where he was joined by Harris County Precinct 2 Commissioner Jack Morman and other members of City Council and the Pasadena Economic Development Corp..

In August, Harris County officials agreed to pay half of a $12 million improvement project. The contractor for the project is SER Construction Partners LLC of Pasadena.

Corporation board member Marilyn Wilkins said Pasadena Boulevard is next on the agenda, with a groundbreaking slated for next year for infrastructure improvements.

Gardemal urged drivers to be cautious in the Richey Street area as the project proceeds.

“Please be safe and do not text and drive in the project area where there is also a school zone north of Harris,” he said.

Cristina Womack, president of Pasadena Chamber of Commerce, said an improved Richey could spur economic development since beautification of the corridor is likely to follow.

“It’s the little things,” she said. “It’s the convenience of having more routes for work. It’ll provide more convenience for everybody.”